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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28147296">A Path Across the Desert</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireBatVillain/pseuds/FireBatVillain'>FireBatVillain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Order of the Stick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Metagaming, Some Roy and V Banter, Sometimes that's just how changes to the fundamental laws of magic are, Thri-Kreen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:34:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,134</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28147296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireBatVillain/pseuds/FireBatVillain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Order of the Stick join a caravan to cross the Great Barren Desert, in search of Girard's Gate. When slavers attack, things change.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Path Across the Desert</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/cartesiandaemon/gifts">cartesiandaemon</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I had a nice time writing this, and I hope you enjoy it. This story begins after page 682 in the comic. You can read pages 673-682 for context to remember where this was in the story. Enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was mid-afternoon when they attacked. The sun was high in the sky, beating down mercilessly on the caravan, though everyone in the Order of the Stick—save Belkar—was protected by an Endure Heat spell from Durkon. Where most caravans, and most caravan guards, would be fatigued by a long slog through the sand, having failed at least one Fortitude Save to avoid nonlethal damage from hot environments, Roy and his friends—again, save Belkar—were ready for combat.</p><p>Six giant monstrous beetles emerged from beneath the sands, each carrying several Thri-kreen on its back. The Thri-kreen were insectoid humanoids living in the western continent, and these ones were looking for trouble. Each Thri-kreen was armed with a spear, and many carried nets of bolases. As encounters go, it was clear that this one would be pretty straight-forward. Unless they had a good deal of class levels, your typical Thri-Kreen would have a Challenge Rating of 1. Judging by their use of nets and bolases, it seemed likely they each had a class level or two, but none seemed able to make more than one attack in a turn.</p><p>The insect-like humanoids probably thought of the caravan as easy pickings, hoping to quickly abduct non-combatants without much resistance. Most of the time, this kind of operation would be successful, and it was only fortune that placed the Order of the Stick with this particular caravan. Roy immediately knew that the limiting factor on his ability to protect the civilians would not be in martial might, but their ability to cover the entire length of the caravan. Thankfully, years of Fighter College taught him the best approach to dealing with individually weak combatants while protecting a large vulnerable group. Splitting up would entail some small amount of risk to the Order of the Stick, but there was never a question in Roy’s mind.</p><p>“Split up and protect the civilians!” he shouted.</p><p>Roy ran forward, his greatsword in his hands. He was surprised to find he reached them with a single Move Action. Roy thought they were more than 20 feet away, but they must have been closer. Misjudging distances like this was a strange mistake for Roy to make—Charging 201 in Fighter College had made him an expert at determining how far away foes were—but he supposed that the desert heat must have gotten to him. Four of the Thri-kreen stood before him, armed with nets, spears, and bolases. It would be a simple matter to take out the group of them. Although he had moved for the turn and couldn’t make a Full Attack, it would be a matter of simplicity to slay the first foe, then make use of Great Cleave to generate additional attacks and take down the entire lot. </p><p>Roy swung his greatsword down, getting past the creature’s armor and natural armor, cutting it between the where the ribs would be on a human and the pelvis. To his dismay the Thri-kreen managed to survive the blow, letting out a cry of pain. Roy clenched his teeth, and despite not having defeated the Thri-kreen, he found he could make additional attacks regardless! He swung his starmetal sword over head, Great Cleaving and striking the other three Thri-kreens, downing two of them. </p><p>Roy looked down at his sword in confusion. “How was I able to use Cleave without downing the foe I struck?” he asked.</p><p>“More cleavage that you expected?” asked Belkar with a grin as he leapt to the top of a nearby dune.</p><p>Roy didn’t dignify the sophomoric joke with a response. Nonetheless, he was puzzled. Generally, Cleave was a Feat that allowed Roy to make an additional attack after defeating a foe. He’d gained great use from it when fighting numerous foes. Against the Druid in Cliffport, for example, he was able to make an additional attack by cutting down the Druid’s Animal Companion first, then using the bonus attack to target the Druid. Making these attacks in the opposite order would not have worked at all, since he wouldn’t be able to dispatch the Druid in a single blow.</p><p>Meanwhile, the battle continued. Thri-kreen were swarming over the caravan, having split up to hit wherever the guards were most thinly spread. </p><p>“Haste!” said Vaarsuvius, spreading arcane energy to Haley, Roy, and Elan. </p><p>Roy felt his speed increase as he moved forward, striking down more of the slavers. Haley made quick work of some of the more distant Thri-kreen, and it was Elan who next noticed the change.</p><p>“Wow, that’s funny!” said Elan with a grin. He danced around the remaining Thri-kreen, lashing out with his rapier, striking down one of them as he moved. “I feel like I have more Hit Points! That won’t stop me from <b>hitting </b> the right <b>point </b> on you, though!” </p><p>The Thri-kreen let out an anguished cry of pain, though whether it was from the Rapier blow or the awful wordplay, Roy could not tell.</p><p>“As do I,” added Vaarsuvius. “It is not entirely clear to me precisely what just took place, but I have a hypothesis.” </p><p>“Are you sure you get the <b>point</b>?” quipped Elan, striking down another Thri-kreen.</p><p>Vaarsuvius frowned, saying “I believe you may have used the same—” </p><p>“I hope they didn’t dock you any <b>points</b> in the new system!” said Elan, his rapier cutting another of the insect humanoids down, this time with a cry of anguish that Roy knew to be from the quality of the pun, rather than the cut.</p><p>“I feel tha same as always,” said Durkon, hefting his shield, before looking down at his armor in dismay. “Ach! I’m wearing chainmail instead of plate mail! Thor’s taint, my AC has plummeted like a stone!”</p><p>“My skills feel different,” said Haley, as she nocked a frosty arrow and let it fly. “I have fewer ranks than I used to, but I feel the same otherwise.”</p><p>“That supports my hypothesis,” said Vaarsuvius. </p><p>After a pause, the elf continued. “Theory: We are being converted from D&amp;D 3.5e to Pathfinder. We can expect a number of significant changes as a result. Rangers, Bards, Rogues, and Wizards all have hit dice one size larger in Pathfinder. Cleave and Great Cleave have also been changed, such that the subsequent attacks no longer require the first one to slay the foe, which likely explains Sir Greenhilt’s unexpected success. It seems likely to me that Fighters now can ignore some of the penalties of wearing armor, which is why he seems faster, as well. Skill points now work differently, though mechanically we should expect similar bonuses to our checks.”</p><p>“Aye, but what about my armor?” asked Durkon. “Tha oughta be plate!” </p><p>“I conjecture that Clerics no longer have Heavy Armor proficiency,” replied Vaarsuvius. “Perhaps in an attempt to tame what I am told is sometimes called the ‘CoDzilla” problem. In discussion, it is said that-”</p><p>“I think you’ve moved one meta-level too high there,” interrupted Roy. “We’re a stick figure D&amp;D parody cartoon, not a stick figure D&amp;D metagame parody cartoon.”</p><p>“To be more precise, Sir Greenhilt, I conjecture that we are now a stick figure <em> Pathfinder </em>parody cartoon.”</p><p>Roy sighed. <em> It never ends! </em> “A bigger change than when we were converted from 3e to 3.5e, then?” </p><p>Vaarsuvius seemed lost in thought, but before the elf could reply, another group of Thri-kreen moved forward, having been emboldened by the group’s momentary hesitation. Roy made short work of them, finding that he could move more quickly in his heavy armor, and they were not much of a threat to begin with. </p><p>Sensing the tide turning against them, the Thri-kreen began to retreat, scrambling up onto the giant beetles.</p><p>They would remain on the surface for only a moment before the beetles’ Burrow speed would come into play, necessitating a long chase, and increasing the chance that the remaining slavers would get away with their captives. Roy made the decision in less than a round, running forward, making use of his greater speed to cut the slaves loose, taking a stab from an angry retreating Thri-kreen for his efforts. </p><p>The change over to Pathfinder had them all a bit off-balance. Even Belkar seemed in an unusual mood, having gone to great efforts to kill the leader of the Thri-kreen slavers. Perhaps he truly was turning over a new leaf!</p><p>Following the battle’s conclusion, the Order of the Stick gathered, and they took stock of their changes. Whereas when they were ported to 3.5e, they were relatively low-level, this conversion to Pathfinder gave rise to a pretty significant change in their capacities as a group. </p><p>Elan showed off his new Bardic Knowledge abilities, prattling off a great deal of insignificant facts to Haley, who seemed concerned with her skill points.</p><p>“Sir Greenhilt,” said Vaarsuvius cautiously, “You may be interested to learn that the fundamental laws of magic have reshaped themselves once again. I believe that, given an opportunity to rest and regain my spells, I will be capable of casting Teleport.”</p><p>Roy was surprised. “Has Teleport become a Transmutation spell again?”</p><p>“Not quite,” said Vaarsuvius. “Apparently, in Pathfinder, a Wizard can cast a spell from a restricted school, though it costs two spell slots instead of one. Teleport remains a Conjuration spell, but it is one that I can cast.”<br/>
<br/>
“No more walking through the hot desert to get where we’re going?” asked Belkar.</p><p>“Well, only to some degree,” said Vaarsuvius. “I do not currently have enough level 8 spell slots to use two of them for a Greater Teleport, which would arrive at the destination without fail.”</p><p>Vaarsuvius was interrupted by Durkon shooting an arc of electricity from his hand. The bright white bolt of lightning was much less than Thor’s Lightning, but nonetheless seared a path into everyone’s vision for a moment before grounding itself out on Roy’s sword.</p><p>“Oops, sorry there laddie!” said Durkon. “Thor’s beer-stained beard, I didnae know wha tha would do!”</p><p>While Durkon examined his new domain powers, Roy moved around in his armor, feeling the effects of his training. It wasn’t quite shooting lightning out of his fingertips or teleporting the party hundreds of miles, but Roy could sense an unspent store of feats at his disposal. In Pathfinder, with feats coming at every other level, he would have more martial abilities at his command. Roy made sure to spend the feat necessary for his anti-magic swing, remembering his grandfather’s advice. Given how things had gone at the last two gates they visited, Roy figured it was fairly likely that they would be facing down Xykon at this gate, too. </p><p>“This does not mean that we should expect me to teleport often or with great accuracy,” added Vaarsuvius. “The limits on the 5th-level spell are substantial, to say the least. While I would not expect a repeat of the Roc Incident—”</p><p>Roy shuddered involuntarily.</p><p>“— I anticipate a small chance of a mishap, and a somewhat more substantial chance of arriving many miles away from our target destination,” Vaarsuvius said.</p><p>“Even so, it seems like the best option for us,” said Roy. “Let’s rest for now, and tomorrow, we will cross the rest of The Great Barren Desert.”</p><p>Roy had much to think about. Teleportation opened the world up to the Order of the Stick. Long travel by boat or airship typically separated their visits to major cities, and they were normally limited in where they could go by distance and the need to cross the intervening area. After Girard’s Gate was secured, they would have much more leeway in terms of traveling to the north pole, or to visit any of their allies. In addition to the tactical or operational uses Teleport had, its strategic value was immense and not to be underestimated.</p><p>Gazing out over the sand dunes, Roy knew that this, perhaps more than anything else, would redirect the course of this campaign. However events would have unfolded before this change over to Pathfinder, that was all out the window. With more tools at their disposal, the Order of the Stick would have a much better chance of meeting their objectives. However, Roy was also keenly aware that Pathfinder would open up new possibilities for Xykon and Redcloak, as well. He would need to talk to V and Durkon, and put together a new, updated idea of the Lich and the Goblin Cleric’s capabilities.</p><p>This game system conversion brought with it new resources and new challenges both. Roy was never more thankful for his time spent on the Rule Systems seminar course and Magical Effects elective at Fighter College than he was now.</p><p>The next day, the Order of the Stick joined hands, and, without the assistance of an external spellcaster, Teleported to the site of the next gate.</p>
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